


A Thousand Words

by unadrift



Series: SGA Season Five Tags [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-28
Updated: 2009-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-03 22:23:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unadrift/pseuds/unadrift
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When John woke, it was his hearing that came back first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Words

**Author's Note:**

> Tag for _Search and Rescue_. Beta'd by villainny.

When John woke, it was his hearing that came back first.

"You're lucky, buddy."

For a long moment John struggled to connect to the real world again. He wanted to retort, "How do you figure that?" but wasn't quite up for it. Finally, he managed to blink his eyes open and into focus and found that he needn't have bothered trying to speak. Ronon hadn't been talking to _him_, anyway.

One bed over Teyla was fast asleep, a hand resting on the crib that had been placed right next to her. The baby was kicking and moving and making gurgling noises, with his tiny left hand wrapped around Ronon's thumb. Ronon leaned down and spoke softly, "Your mother will keep you safe. Atlantis will keep you safe." It didn't even sound like a promise, more like stating a fact.  
It _was_ a fact. They _would_. And Ronon _knew_.

John felt-- something. Something warm and-- pride, maybe? He imagined that this would mean everything to Ronon who had grown up with his planet at war and his people living under siege. It also meant everything to someone who had never had a family that truly _cared_. John hadn't, for nearly all his life. Not before Atlantis--

God, the anaesthetic really made his brain go all mushy. Because he couldn't stop staring at Teyla's son. The boy she'd named after him. John's eyes started to burn, even. He moved to rub them and got his hand tangled in the IV tube that was pinned into the back of his hand.  
Ronon looked up, a huge grin on his face. "Hey," he said. "You're awake."

Usually Ronon wasn't one for stating the obvious, and he regularly gave Rodney sour looks for exactly that. So the baby made Ronon go soft, too. John was reassured.

"You alright?" Ronon asked.

"Yeah," John said hoarsely. Except for-- "Water?" he manged to add.

Ronon gently pulled his thumb from the persistent tiny fingers. Then he not only brought a glass of water, but Keller, too.

"How are you feeling?" She took John's vitals and checked his pupils with that annoying flashlight.

It made his head hurt. He squinted. "Before or after you blinded me?"

"I guess that means 'okay'," she said and scribbled something on the ever-present clipboard.

"You playing with my insides doesn't seem to have done much damage," John said, because he couldn't let that one pass.

"The opposite, I hope." She smiled sheepishly. "And can we forget about that, please? Sometimes I'm not that good with, you know--"

Patients? Jokes? John wasn't sure how she had planned to finish the sentence, but he said, "Yeah."  
"You just rest now," Keller said and patted his knee. John had to admit that he was very much inclined to take the advice.

"John?"

He turned his head. Teyla was smiling warmly at him. "It is good to see you awake and well. You have been sleeping for a long time."

"Good to see you, too." John waved at her. He really was still a little loopy. "Now it's a party. The only one missing is--"

"McKay," Ronon said. It sounded like a greeting.

"What are you all doing here?" Rodney asked accusingly, standing in the entrance, hands on his hips.

"Well," John drawled after a moment of bewildered silence. "Teyla and I are _supposed_ to be here. And we're fine, thanks for asking. Ronon is visiting, and the good doctor is doing her job. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Um, just visiting as well," Rodney said and, completely lacking stealth, tried to hide one hand behind his back.

"What's with the camera?" Ronon asked, smirking.

"Camera?" John repeated.

"Yes, well. I thought that if Teyla didn't mind-- I could--"

"It's the middle of the night, Rodney." John would have sat up a little higher on the bed if the wound hadn't twinged so much. "What made you think that _now_ would be a good time to have a photo shoot with a baby?"

Rodney waved his free hand dismissively. "I've been informed that babies aren't on the typical day-night schedule. I figured he might be awake. I hadn't figured that _everyone else_ would be, too," he added sourly.

"Rodney. My patients need rest." Keller put on her best doctor's voice, which wasn't impressive or intimidating even on a good day. John liked that about her.

Teyla swung her legs over the edge of her bed. "It is alright, Jennifer. This is a very good idea," she said and picked Torren up from his crib.

Rodney managed to close his mouth after a second or two. "Of course it is. Thank you for noticing."

"A picture with the entire team," Teyla admonished when Rodney eagerly held out his hands.  
She put the baby in John's arms, not taking no for an answer, and sat down carefully on the side of his bed.

"Hey there," John said, because he couldn't think of anything more intelligent to say. The fine hair on Torren's head felt very soft under John's fingertips, and it was really, really good to be reminded why they put up with bad guys, life-sucking aliens, viruses, bugs, bombs, nanites, oranges – just the million-and-one things that could kill any of them before (or during) breakfast the next morning.

Rodney sat down on the other side of the bed and experimentally touched a finger to the baby's forearm. Ronon loomed over John's shoulder.

"He's tiny," Ronon said.

"Well, of course." Rodney rolled his eyes. It seemed as if he was ready to launch into a sarcastic ramble about how Teyla would have been in a lot more pain otherwise, and that Ronon shouldn't worry, humans _grew_.

"Say cheese," Keller said cheerfully. John looked up in time for the _click_.

"Now individual shots," Rodney said and jumped up from the bed.

* * *

The next morning John felt up to accomplishing more than just lying around. He might as well be doing something useful while he was down for the count, so he sent Lorne to fetch his laptop. John fired it up, and the client immediately started downloading the email Rodney had promised. He opened it and grinned. There were _thirteen_ shots of Rodney and the baby attached.

There was also the one group shot at the end of the list. He opened the file and stared at the picture for a long time. They were all smiling – John, too. He never smiled on photos. Rodney even looked kind of relaxed.

When it occured to John that the entire setup – him on the hospital bed, Torren on his arm with the others around them – looked a lot as if _he_ was the one who had given birth to the child, John's grin widened.

It was a great family picture anyway.

John searched the intranet until he found the right requisition form and ordered a frame.


End file.
